Liquid-phase hyperpolarized contrast agents are a new technology that can enhance the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging by a factor of 10,000 or more. These signal enhancements promise to yield significant improvements in many existing applications of MRI, including angiography and perfusion imaging. In addition, because it is possible to hyperpolarize endogenous substances, these techniques are beginning to show promise for new applications such as `real-time'metabolic imaging that monitors not just transport and uptake of agents, but metabolic transformations as well. The two main approaches to preparation of hyperpolarized contrast media are dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) and parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP). Although DNP is a very flexible method, PHIP has several advantages as well. In particular, PHIP sample preparation times are much shorter than those required by DNP, and the equipment needed for PHIP is comparatively inexpensive. At present, however, all commercially available polarizers make use of DNP technology. The lack of commercially available hardware is a significant hindrance to research in PHIP. Here we propose to develop an inexpensive, compact, and portable PHIP-based polarization system. The system will be designed to yield maximal signal enhancements while minimizing the cost, complexity, and physical size of the system. In addition, we will automate the polarization process so that people without extensive expertise in PHIP can make use of the technology. We will develop a user interface that will allow experimentation with different polarization techniques so that researchers can develop optimized methods for polarizing a variety of nuclei in different chemical compounds. Finally, we will make the design of the system public in the form of journal articles and web resources to enable other researchers to make use of this technology. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Hyperpolarized liquid contrast media can enhance the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging by a factor of 10,000 or more relative to conventional methods, and promise to enable a variety of new MRI-based diagnostic methods. Parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) is a simple, fast, and relatively inexpensive method for preparing hyperpolarized contrast media. Here we propose to develop a PHIP-based polarization system that is compact, inexpensive, and user-friendly. We will make the design of this system publicly available by means of journal articles and web resources.